Elastic mounting assembly

ABSTRACT

An elastic mounting assembly having two sets of flexural members each set being flexible in a direction transverse with the other set. Acting in combination the flexures allow a mounted body to be movable in tension from a biased position upon a surface defined by the transverse directions of flexibility of the two sets of flexural members.

ited States Patent [451 Jan. 18, 1972 [WI ll'ZlLASTllC MOUNTING ASSEMBLY[72] lnventor: Guy A. Townsend, Livonia, Mich.

[713] Assignee: Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

[22] Filed: May 20, 1970 21 Appl. No.: 39,004

[52] US. Cl ..271/52, 267/160, 271/59 [51 Int. Cl ..B65h 9/16 [58] Field01Search ..27l/52, 59, 58,49, 48, 55,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,465,997 Piske ..267/160 XBuslik et al. ..27l/52 Albosta ..271/52 Primary Examiner-Evon C. BlunkAssistant Examiner-Bruce H. Stoner, Jr. Attorney-Edwin W. Uren andKenneth L. Miller [57] ABSTRACT An elastic mounting assembly having twosets of flexural members each set being flexible in a directiontransverse with the other set. Acting in combination the flexures allowa mounted body to be movable in tension from a biased position upon asurface defined by the transverse directions of flexibility of the twosets of flexural members.

14 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures SBBSABE WENTED m1 8 m2 SHEET 1 [1F 2 INVENTOR. GUY A. TOWNSEND AGENT ATENTEDMMIBLWZ QEBBAEQ sum 2 BF 2ELAS'lllC MOUNTING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The inventionrelates generally to flexible mountings and specifically to springmountings for document aligning rollers.

In the art of document handling by machine it is often desirable to movea document into some registered position for the purpose of obtainingaccess to a particular area of the document for machine reading or forprinting information. One common aligning method utilizes two opposedrollers, one being composed of a material such as polished steel havinga low coefficient of friction with a paper document and the other rollercomposed or resilient material such as soft rubber having a highcoefficient of friction with both paper and polished metal. The rubberroller is biased in a canted position relative to the direction ofmotion of a transported document while the metal roller is aligned withthe transport motion. When a transported document is interposed between.the rubber roller and the metal roller, the canted rubber roller slidesthe document along the polished metal surface of the drum in thedirection of its cant and toward an aligningguide. Examples of suchdocument aligning apparatus may be seen in the U5. Pats. to Dawson, No.1,973,749 and to Lockey, No. 3,107,089, the latter being of commonownership herewith.

A U.S. Pat. to Noon, No. 2,767,982 uses a flat metal surface rather thana metal roller on which to slide a document against a stationaryaligning guide. The Lockey and Noon patents bias the rubber roller by anoffset coiled spring, the roller being pivotally mounted and biased in acanted direction toward an aligning guide by the offset coil spring. TheNoon patent has a provision for movement of the rubber roller normal tothe direction of document transport to permit documents of varyingthickness to be aligned by the apparatus. This normal movement isattained by pivotally coupling the axis of the rubber roller to astationary supporting member and biasing the rubber roller into contactwith the metal surface by the weight of an axis coupling member.

The force applied to the document by the canted rubber roller iscritical. It must be of sufiicient magnitude to overcome the frictionalforce between the metal surface and the document but small enough not toovercome the columnar strength of the document after the document hasarrived in abutment with the aligning guide. The offset spring andpivotal design of the prior art, as described above, has a disadvantagein this regard. The pivots in the mounting become clogged with paperdust, common in document handling equipment, and the bearings of thepivots become worn with age. The precise control neededover the cantingforce of the rubber roller is therefor not attainable over na extendedperiod of use with the mountings of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The elastic mounting assembly herein disclosedprovides the precise force necessary to move an item, such as adocument, into registration with an aligning surface and with theresilience normal to the direction of document transport to permitalignment of documents of varying thicknesses. In so doing the mountingobviates the need for pivots and bearings with their accompanyingdeficiencies heretofore pointed out. Two sets of flexural members areused in the subject invention; one to yieldably urge the documentagainst a moving surface, such as the periphery of a rotating drum, andanother to urge the document into edgewise alignment with a guide on themoving surface. The invention resides in the combination of two sets offlexural members, each set having a different locus of elastic,yieldable displacement. The sets of flexural members are oriented intransverse relationship. A platform is joined to one of the flexures formounting a body such as a roller. So mounted, the body has thecapability of being elastically and yieldably displaced upon a surfacedefined by the loci of displacement of the two sets of flexural members.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of anelastic mounting assembly constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 1A is an isometric view showing the mounting member of the assemblyof FIG. 1 but detached therefrom;

FIG. 1B is an isometric view showing the connecting member of FIG. l butdetached therefrom;

' FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing a document aligning apparatusincorporating two such elastic mountings;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged frontal view of one of the elastic mountings ofFIG. 2 showing the resilient roller thereof riding upon a driven metaldrum prior to the interposition of an unaligned document therebetween;

FIG. 4 is a similar view as that of FIG. 3 but showing the resilientroller rocked downwardly after the interposition of a document betweenthe roller and the drum;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the mounting illustrated in FIG. 4 showing theresilient roller rocked downwardly with a document interposed betweenthe drum and the roller; and

FIG. 6 is the same view as that of FIG. 5 but showing the document inalignment with a rim of the drum with the resilient roller having riddenupwardly upon the document.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Tofacilitate an understanding ofthe subject invention, a preferred embodiment will be described inconnection with its use in a document aligning apparatus. The flexuralmounting assembly, as shown in FIG. 1 is preferably supported on a rigidsupporting member 11 having a lower fastening plate 12 with a slot 13for firmly securing the member in a desired location by means of a screwor the'like. In the illustrated embodiment of-the invention, the upperportion of the supporting member exhibits a channel-shaped formationwith two sidewalls l4- l4 spaced apart substantially parallel to oneanother and formed in conjunction with one connecting side 15substantially perpendicular to the two sidewalls.

Joined with broadsides abutting each of the two parallel sidewalls 14I4of the supporting member 11 and projecting laterally therefrom are fourfirst leaflilte or exterior flexures 116, two associated with eachsidewall thereof. A clamping strap 17 associated with each sidewall 14presses common ends of the flexures I6-l6 associated with each sidewallinto rigid alignment therewith. Fasteners such as screws 18 joined tothe sidewalls ll4]l4 of the supporting member 11 press the clampingstraps 117 into abutment with the flexures 16 against the sidewalls ofthe supporting member. The flexural members 16 are preferably composedof an elastic metal such as tempered stainless steel and each issimilarly elongated in one dimension to assume a strip or leaflikeformation projecting in the same direction away from the support I]. andhaving a thickness which is very small relative to its other twodimensions. The broadsides of all of the exterior flexural members 116are aligned substantially parallel with one another to establish. adirection of flex or elastically yieldable displacement perpendicular totheir broadsides.

A connector 119 of relatively rigid material connects the outer ends ofthe exterior flexures 16 at points substantially equidistant from thesupporting member I1, the flexures, supporting member 111, andconnecting member forming an opened boxlike frame. Clamping straps 20rigidlyjoin the ends of the exterior flexures 16 to the connectingmember 19. The connecting member 19, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and IB,has an upper inclined aligning surface 21 and a lower oppositelyinclined aligning surface 22. Both aligning surfaces of the connectingmember 19 extend substantially perpendicular to the broadsides of theexterior flexures l6 and inclined with the elongated dimensions of theexterior flexures.

Joined in spaced apart relationship with their broadsides abutting theupper aligning surface 21 of the connecting member 19 are two downwardlyinclined spaced-apart second leaflike or interior flexures 23-43, eachflexure being an elongated strip of elastic metal with two long sidessubstantially parallel to one another. A third interior or secondleaflilte flexure 24 substantially twice as wide as either of the othertwo interior flexures 23-43 is fastened with its broadside in abutmentto the lower aligning surface 22 of the connecting member 19. The thirdinterior flexure 24 inclines upwardly, crossing between the two flexures2323 mounted on the upper aligning surface.

An item-engaging assembly including a mounting member 25 of relativelyrigid material connects the other ends of the crossing second leaflikeflexures 23 and 24 and has aligning surfaces 21 and 22' in the sameconfiguration as the connecting member 19, as illustrated in FIG. 1A.The mounting member 25 is positioned in spaced apart, face-to-facerelationship with the connector 19 with the aligning surfaces 21 and 22and 22 and 21 respectively lying in the same planes. From one side ofthe mounting member 25, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A, a generally U-shapedmounting arm 26, which may form an integral part of the member, extendsoutwardly of the flexure assembly and terminates in a position behindthe connecting member 19 with respect to the supporting member 1 1. Theitem-engaging assembly further includes a roller 27 having a peripherycomposed of material having a high coefi'rcient of friction with theitem to bealigned is rotatably coupled at its axis to the extremity ofthe mounting arm 26 in a biased position for rotation in a planesubstantially parallel to the direction of flex of the four exteriorflexures 16.

OPERATION As can be ascertained from the foregoing description, theroller 27 mounted on the mounting member 25 is accorded the compositeflexible attributes of both the first and the second leaflike flexures.The flexible properties of either set of the flexures can becharacterized by the relationship of displacement of the flexure setwith the force applied to it. In any substantial degree an elongatedleaflike, metal flexure, such as described, can only be deflected by aforce or a component of force in a direction perpendicular to itsbroadsides. A point on a flexure undergoing deflection would transcribea curved locus of points or a line. As the interior and exterior sets offlexures have their broadsides aligned transversely to one another, theloci or lines transcribed by the two flexures intersect to define acurved planar area upon which movement of the mounted roller 27 isrestricted.

By virtue of the securement of the connector 19 to the outer ends of theparallel extending first flexures 16-16, a parallelogram orientation isestablished with respect to the supporting member 11. The connector 19will thus be restricted to a bodily translatable movement along astraight line perpendicular to the broadsides of the two pairs of firstflexures 16-- 16 as they are elastically bent out of their normal biasedposition; As for the mounting member 25, by virtue of its connection tothe crossing flexure members 23 and 24, it will be restricted withrespect to the connector 19 to a rocking or pivotal movement about anaxis approximately coinciding with the intersection of these flexureswhen the latter are elastically bent perpendicularly to their respectivebroadsides.

A document aligning apparatus such as shown in FIG. 2 has a documentfeeding chute entrance 28 opening tangentially onto a polished metalperiphery or item-bearing surface 29 of a driven drum. The chute has acurved extension 258' having a radius of curvature conforming to that ofthe drum and positioned opposite a portion of the periphery thereof asshown in FIG; 2. A registration surface or rim 30 of the rotating drumserves as a document edge aligning guide. Between the document chuteentrance 28 and a document chute exit 31 are disposed two rubber rollers27 each mounted on an elastic mounting assembly such as heretoforedescribed. Each elastic assembly is rigidly attached to the structure ofthe document aligning apparatus by screws 32 through the slot 13 in thelower fastening plate 12 of the supporting member 11. The rubber roller27 of each elastic assembly is biased in contact with the polishedperiphery 29 of the driving drum and also canted in a biased directiondownwardly toward the registration surface 30 of the drum as illustratedin FIGS. 4 and 5.

When the rubber roller rides on the item-bearing surface 29 in theabsence of a document disposed therebetween, as shown in FIG. 3, it isrolled upwardly into rotational alignment with the driving drum by thefrictional force between the roller and the drum thereby tensioning theinterior flexures 23 and 24. In this position the roller 27 has apropensity (by reason of the tensioned interior flexures) to return toits biased, canted position but is restrained from so doing by thefrictional force described. When a fed document 33 becomes interposedbetween the rubber roller 27 and the item-bearing surface 29 of thedriving drum, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the tensioned interior flexures23 and 24 of the mounting assembly act to rock the rubber roller intoits biased, canted position overcoming the relatively small frictionalforce between the drum and the document, thereby sliding the documentalong the polished periphery of the drum and downwardly toward theregistration surface 30. When the lower edge of the document comes intoengagement with the registration surface 30 as shown in FIG. 6 therotating roller 27 will ride upwardly from its canted position intorotational alignment with the direction of motion of the transporteddocument and assume the position shown in FIG. 6. It is in this actionthat the downward rocking force applied by the crossed interior flexures23 and 24 is critical. If the rocking force is too great it willovercome the columnar strength of the paper document and bend thedocument outwardly from abutment with the periphery 27 of the drivingdrum and collapse the document against the registration surface 30. Toosmall a rocking force would not overcome the frictional force betweenthe paper and the item-bearing surface 29 and would accordingly fail toproperly align the document with the registration surface 30. a

When a document is fed, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the first leaflikeflexures l6 permit the rubber roller 25 to ride up the edge and onto thesurface of the document and outwardly from the item-bearing surface 29,thereby maintaining a force upon the document that is normal to theitem-bearing surface. The thickness of the document shown is exaggeratedto better illustrate the flexing of the first leaflike flexures 16. Inmost practical applications the variations in thickness of documents tobe aligned are so small relative to the dimensions of the mounting thatthe normal force applied by the first flexure 16 is substantiallyconstant over a wide range of document thickness.

What is claimed is:

1. An elastic mounting assembly comprising:

a supporting member,

at least two laterally positioned first leaflike flexures havingbroadsides aligned parallel to one another to permit elasticdisplacement along a predetermined line,

a connector spaced apart from said supporting member and coupled to saidfirst leaflike flexures,

flexural means coupled to said connector and elastically displaceablealong a line transverse to the predetermined line of displacement ofsaid first leaflike flexures, and

a mounting member disposed in spaced apart relationship with saidconnector and coupled to said flexural means whereby a body mounted onsaid mounting member is elastically displaceable upon a surface definedby the lines of displacement of said first leaflike flexures and saidflexural means.

2. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein saidfirst leaflike flexures extend from said supporting member with theouter ends thereof being connected by said connector.

3. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein saidflexural means is characterized by at least two laterally positionedsecond leaflike flexures.

4. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 3, whereinbroadsides of said second leaflike flexures are aligned in crossingrelationship to one another.

wherein said mounting member is wholly disposed within a frame definedby said first leaflike flexures.

7. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 6, further includinga roller positioned exteriorly of said frame and rotatably mounted onsaid mounting member.

a. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein saidmounting member additionally comprises a generally U-shaped armsupporting said rotatably mounted roller, said U-shaped arm and saidroller being influenced in displacement by said first and said secondleaflike flexures to define a predetermined area of permissible planarmovement.

9. ln apparatus for transporting and aligning sheet items, saidapparatus having an item-bearing surface displaceable edgewise in thedirection of item transport and a registration surface intersecting theplane of said item-bearing surface for abutting one edge of atransported sheet item, a device for moving a transported sheet itemalong the item-bearing surface and into abutment with the registrationsurface comprismg:

a supporting member rigidly disposed with respect to the item-bearingsurface,

at least two first leaflike flexures coupled with said supporting memberand elastically displaceable along a line substantially perpendicular tothe item-bearing surface,

a connector spaced apart from said supporting member and there coupledto said first leaflike flexures,

flexural means coupled with said connector and elastically displaceablealong a line substantially parallel with the item-bearing surface, and

an item engaging assembly spaced apart from said connector and therecoupled to said flexural means, said itemengaging assembly being biasednormally against said item-bearing surface by said first leaflikeflexures and toward said registration surface by said flexural means sothat the item-engaging assembly yields to the interposition of the sheetitem transported between it and the item-bearing surface and urges aninterposed item toward the registration surface.

10. A device as defined in claim 9,.wherein said first leaflike flexuresextend from said supporting member with the outer ends thereof beingconnected by said connector.

11. A device as defined in claim 10. wherein said flexural means ischaracterized by at least two laterally positioned second leaflikemembers.

12. A device as defined in claim 11, wherein broadsides of said secondleaflike flexures are aligned in crossing relationship to one another.

13. A device as defined in claim 9, wherein said item-engaging assemblyis comprised of a roller for engaging an item and urging it toward theregistration surface and a mounting member coupled to said flexuralmeans for journaling said roller in axially parallel relationship withthe item-bearing surface and in peripheral contact therewith.

14. A device as defined by claim 13, wherein said mounting member iscoupled to said flexural means between said connector and saidsupporting member, and arm of said mounting member extending therefromfor journaling said roller.

:0: a r: a

1. An elastic mounting assembly comprIsing: a supporting member, atleast two laterally positioned first leaflike flexures having broadsidesaligned parallel to one another to permit elastic displacement along apredetermined line, a connector spaced apart from said supporting memberand coupled to said first leaflike flexures, flexural means coupled tosaid connector and elastically displaceable along a line transverse tothe predetermined line of displacement of said first leaflike flexures,and a mounting member disposed in spaced apart relationship with saidconnector and coupled to said flexural means whereby a body mounted onsaid mounting member is elastically displaceable upon a surface definedby the lines of displacement of said first leaflike flexures and saidflexural means.
 2. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1,wherein said first leaflike flexures extend from said supporting memberwith the outer ends thereof being connected by said connector.
 3. Anelastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein said flexuralmeans is characterized by at least two laterally positioned secondleaflike flexures.
 4. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim3, wherein broadsides of said second leaflike flexures are aligned incrossing relationship to one another.
 5. An elastic mounting assembly asdefined in claim 1, wherein said mounting member is positioned betweensaid connector and said supporting member and is coupled to said secondleaflike flexures.
 6. An elastic mounting assembly as defined in claim5, wherein said mounting member is wholly disposed within a framedefined by said first leaflike flexures.
 7. An elastic mounting assemblyas defined in claim 6, further including a roller positioned exteriorlyof said frame and rotatably mounted on said mounting member.
 8. Anelastic mounting assembly as defined in claim 7, wherein said mountingmember additionally comprises a generally U-shaped arm supporting saidrotatably mounted roller, said U-shaped arm and said roller beinginfluenced in displacement by said first and said second leaflikeflexures to define a predetermined area of permissible planar movement.9. In apparatus for transporting and aligning sheet items, saidapparatus having an item-bearing surface displaceable edgewise in thedirection of item transport and a registration surface intersecting theplane of said item-bearing surface for abutting one edge of atransported sheet item, a device for moving a transported sheet itemalong the item-bearing surface and into abutment with the registrationsurface comprising: a supporting member rigidly disposed with respect tothe item-bearing surface, at least two first leaflike flexures coupledwith said supporting member and elastically displaceable along a linesubstantially perpendicular to the item-bearing surface, a connectorspaced apart from said supporting member and there coupled to said firstleaflike flexures, flexural means coupled with said connector andelastically displaceable along a line substantially parallel with theitem-bearing surface, and an item engaging assembly spaced apart fromsaid connector and there coupled to said flexural means, saiditem-engaging assembly being biased normally against said item-bearingsurface by said first leaflike flexures and toward said registrationsurface by said flexural means so that the item-engaging assembly yieldsto the interposition of the sheet item transported between it and theitem-bearing surface and urges an interposed item toward theregistration surface.
 10. A device as defined in claim 9, wherein saidfirst leaflike flexures extend from said supporting member with theouter ends thereof being connected by said connector.
 11. A device asdefined in claim 10, wherein said flexural means is characterized by atleast two laterally positioned second leaflike members.
 12. A device asdefined in claim 11, wherein broadsides of said second leaflike flexuresare aligned iN crossing relationship to one another.
 13. A device asdefined in claim 9, wherein said item-engaging assembly is comprised ofa roller for engaging an item and urging it toward the registrationsurface and a mounting member coupled to said flexural means forjournaling said roller in axially parallel relationship with theitem-bearing surface and in peripheral contact therewith.
 14. A deviceas defined by claim 13, wherein said mounting member is coupled to saidflexural means between said connector and said supporting member, andarm of said mounting member extending therefrom for journaling saidroller.